The state-backed firms concentrate on the duller end of the publishing spectrum: authorised histories, government-approved schoolbooks, manuals and so on.

ECONOMIST: China��s book industry gets a rewrite

"It is absolutely essential that no state aid is given before it is authorised - if it is authorised - by the European Commission, " Mr Monti said after meetings with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Finance Minister Hans Eichel.

BBC: EU to examine Holzmann rescue

In 1999 Texas authorised a colonias initiative to co-ordinate state efforts to improve transport, housing, health and water, and hundreds of millions of state dollars have been allocated for the work over the past decade.

ECONOMIST: The colonias of the Mexican border